Picking the Pieces Up
by WonkasChocolate
Summary: For a while, everything seems strange. The way the sun never shines, the way Squall never smiles anymore... A drabble series that involves the whole Hollow Bastion crew, and kind of spans the length of both KH games. Slight Cloud/Aerith and Leon/Yuffie.


**Title**: Picking the Pieces Up  
**Author**: WonkasChocolate  
**Rating**: PG  
**Characters/Pairings**: Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, Cid; slight (and sort of squinty) Cloud/Aerith and Leon/Yuffie  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own. I bow to the mouse and Square.  
**A/N**: This was sparked by the kh_drabble prompt [193] Destruction. It involves the whole Hollow Bastion crew, and kind of spans the length of both KH games. This is kind of a drabble series, I guess, so yeah... I do realise that in the canon Leon and the gang reached Hollow Bastion before Sora defeated Ansem-who-wasn't-really-Ansem, but in this fic, you know, they...don't =] Tell me what you think.

* * *

It takes them by surprise, being swallowed by the darkness. And when they are tipped onto unfamiliar ground, they walk in circles, waiting for some sort of sign or saving grace that won't come.

For a while, everything seems strange. The way the sun never shines, the way Squall never smiles anymore, the dark creatures that crawl out from blackened corners that will make you think you can drown in the darkness.

Then, things change. Squall is Leon now. Leon is strong, the leader, and vows that he won't let the darkness take them again.

He fights.

Yuffie begins to laugh again and Cid stops smoking. Cloud turns his back on them, turns a blind eye to the stars blinking out, but they never expected anything more of him.

Aerith smiles at them all.

**OOO**

Cloud is gone. Has simply disappeared, and Aerith worries. Leon tells her he'll come back; Yuffie says she shouldn't worry about a stupid, spiky-haired, huge-sword-carrying guy like Cloud; Cid says Cloud can take care of himself. Aerith smiles and says she knows.

She worries anyway.

But when the King visits, there is no more time for it. Leon rises to the challenge, says he'll find the Keybearer, and no one doubts it. Yuffie tries to follow, but he says no.

His demeanour changes after that. He fights more, stays out for days at a time, returns with more injuries. Yuffie says she hates Leon and continues to call him Squall, damn the consequences.

And just when everyone has nearly reached their breaking point, the Keybearer appears.

They are relieved.

**OOO**

Leon worries that the fate of the worlds is in the hands of a fourteen-year-old boy, but Yuffie proclaims that Squall is still sore about being beaten by Sora, to which Cid bursts out laughing, and sends Leon stalking darkly out of the room.

Yuffie runs after him and they don't come back until the next day. No one asks them anything, and they don't offer any answers, but things seem to fall into place.

They live in a house that is much too small for all of them, but none of them complain, because they've become a collective _them_ now, and don't want things to fall apart after they've been put back together.

They fight Heartless and tell jokes and laugh over the dinner Aerith cooks for them every night. Things have become normal, and memories of what home used to be fade. Even the guilt in Leon's eyes recedes, and they (especially Yuffie) wonder if he'll ever go back to being Squall.

**OOO**

When all the stars return to the sky, they all thank Sora, even though they know he can't hear them. The next day, they pile into the gummi ship and head for home. The excitement emanating from them is nearly tangible, and even Cid seems to be in good spirits. When they land, Yuffie bounds out the door, followed by the rest of them.

The sight that greets them is not what they expected.

Everything is broken. The castle walls are crumbling, strange black ash coats everything, the town is completely destroyed. All eyes turn to Leon after they've seen enough of the devastation.

"What do we do now?" Yuffie asks.

Leon sighs and says, "We fix it."

And so they do.

**OOO**

The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee is formed. They work for months on end, restoring the town and repairing the castle. Slowly, people return and volunteers help to fix things. Everything seems to be working.

Five months after they arrive, Cloud appears. Aerith embraces him and the look in her eyes is enough to make Leon, and even Yuffie, turn their heads away. Cloud gives no explanation as to why he was gone, but they are all happy to have him back so they quell their curiosity until he sees fit to tell them. They know he will eventually.

And things start to fall into place again.

Cloud goes wherever Aerith does, and wherever Leon is found Yuffie is always close by, and they repair Hollow Bastion until it's almost like what it used to be – but it isn't quite. But neither are they, so they find that things just _work_ and it's good enough for them.


End file.
